1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an in-vehicle display apparatus mounted on an instrument panel in a vehicle interior.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an example of an in-vehicle display apparatus mounted on an instrument panel in a vehicle interior, an apparatus has been developed that can display vehicle-related information such as travel speed or engine speed on a display screen of a display panel and that can selectively display vehicle related information by moving an annular frame, displayed in front of the display screen, in the right-left direction. For example, in an in-vehicle display apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,382,234, an annular frame is driven to reciprocate between a first display area and a second display area by a driving unit such as a motor. A specific type of vehicle-related information, such as an image of a tachometer, is constantly displayed in a circular area surrounded by the annular frame. Other types of vehicle-related information, such as images of a fuel gauge and an inlet/exhaust gas temperature gauge, are selectively displayed in other areas.
In such an in-vehicle display apparatus, when the display panel is turned on as a result of turning an engine (or accessories) on, an initial screen is displayed, that is, an image of a tachometer is displayed in a first display area of the display screen and other types of vehicle-related information, such as images of a fuel gauge and a coolant temperature gauge, are displayed in other areas. Here, the frame stops at the first display area so as to surround the outer periphery of the image of the tachometer. From this state, when the driving unit is operated to move the frame from the first display area to the second display area, an image of the tachometer is displayed in the second display area and another type of vehicle-related information, such as an image of an engine oil gauge instead of a fuel gauge, is displayed in another area.
However, in the above-described existing in-vehicle display apparatus, when the engine (or accessories) is off and the display panel is off, only the annular frame that is in a stationary state appears in front of the display screen that no longer displays images and has darkened. Since this frame is visually perceived as floating over the dark screen, the frame prevents the design of the display apparatus from being stylish.